Nightmares
by speedreader1999
Summary: When Barbara wakes up in the middle of the night, she realizes that Dick is having a nightmare. Can she comfort him? *One-shot*


My eyes flashed open and I lay there for a second, my breathing slow and my face heating up. From the light coming in through the windows it was a few hours before dawn, so about… two o'clock in the morning? Why the hell did my conscious wake me up this time?

Then I heard it. Small, barely distinguishable whimpering was coming from the far corner of the warehouse. I winced when I recognized it.

_Dick._

I could almost hear his rough breathing from the boy's side of the large place, but I didn't think anyone else could. At least, not yet.

When the noises grew a bit louder and I sighed and slipped out of my bed, shivering slightly when my bare feet touched the cold floor. As quickly and quietly as possible I nearly ran across the room and slipped around the large curtain.

The only light was the small window near the top of the ceiling, but being a member of the Bat can have its benefits. Dick's bed, as I knew, was over near the far end of the space, near the entrance. When I had first found out I had laughed, joking that he always wanted to keep an eye around things.

The floor was cold and a brush of air hit my arms, my tank top being no help in keeping me warm. Heck, I still didn't even know why I had chosen sweatpants -that were cut a few inches above the knee- to bed in a place where the Justice League couldn't even spring for a cooling and heating system, yet they could afford multi-billion dollar zeta-tubes.

The noises were slightly louder than before and I reached his bed, kneeling down to his side and reaching my hand out.

My hand touched his forehead and ran a single finger through his hair, causing him to murmur and shift slightly to the side. His mouth parted and I felt a hot breath reach my arm, but he didn't awake.

I noticed that he was burning hot and, like always, assumed he was having nightmares. When we were younger, at our sleepovers, he had often woken up in the middle of the night with nightmares. I had always rushed over to him and soothed him back to sleep by brushing his hair.

Yet, now it didn't seem to work. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse.

I moved my hand down to his cheek and rubbed it softly with my thumb repeatedly. He gulped and he became alarming hot.

"Please… don't kill her… I'll do anything," he whispered. "Please…"

The tone of his voice was alarming. Normally he was strong and never showed weakness- he learned that from Mr. Hide-All-My-Emotions-And-I-Won't-Be-Hurt himself- but he sounded defenseless.

"Please," he muttered. "Don't hurt her…" his voice grew panicked. "Babs!"

I grasped his shoulder and shook him awake. A shot of brilliant blue met my eyes and he shot upward, causing me to jerk back just before our faces collided.

He took heavy breaths, his eyes flickering about before landing on my sprawled position on the floor. He blinked once. "Babs?"

I sighed in relief. "You were having a nightmare."

Something flashed through his eyes- was that relief? "Sorry I woke you," he said quietly.

"I'm just glad you're alright. It sounded like a bad one-" I paused. "You said my name a lot," I said in a softer tone.

He grimaced. "Just another dream. Go back to bed."

I would have laughed had I thought it would hurt his feelings. "Dick, I'm not another member of the team that you can just boss around. Tell me what's wrong," I said, folding my legs underneath me on the floor.

Dick gave me an exasperated look. "Barbara-"

"Don't use my first name against me, Richard."

His eyes darted around the room, most likely making sure that the rest of the people weren't awake. A few members of the team did know his name- me and M'gann- but the rest didn't. "Don't say my name," he hissed.

I smirked. "Or what?"

Dick turned his head away from me, refusing to talk. I sighed. "Well, if you're going to act like Tim when he doesn't get dessert…"

I stood up from the floor and pushed against his side, causing him to move over slightly. He jerked and stared at me incredulously as I crawled in next to him, placing my head on the pillow and turning on my side.

After a few moments, I felt a poke in my stomach. I hid a grin as I turned my head to face his still upright position. _Same old Dick… _"What are you doing?" he hissed. "If the team saw you in my bed they'd make assumptions..." His voice trailed off.

I snorted as quietly as possible. "Please," I whispered back. "They already have bets on whether we're dating or not."

Another pause. "They do?"

"And I thought you knew everything."

I turned my head and heard a sigh. Then he mumbled underneath his breath before laying beside me, turning so my back was to him. I felt his arms around my waist as I slid into his embrace, my head finding the crook of his neck.

For a moment there was only heavy breathing, before I felt a breath of air on my neck. "What?" I asked, for I was just about to fall asleep.

I felt a shiver run through his body. "Where did you get that scar from?" he asked quietly.

Now it was my turn to freeze, and I cursed myself for my stupidity. I decided to play dumb. "What scar?"

"Babs."

His voice was demanding and I flinched at the level of anger in his voice. "It was that mission a few weeks ago. You know, that one against Captain Cold…"

By the sharp intake of breath, I knew he remembered.

It was supposed to be an easy mission, just me and Impulse. Nightwing had dispatched us because he was causing trouble near the city limits of Star City. When the villain shot a beam, Impulse had ran to avoid it and bumped in me. I had flown near the villain and Captain Cold caught me by the neck, slicing it lightly with a knife that he had in his pocket.

It had taken all my begging skills to convince Impulse that I was fine and under any circumstances _not to tell Nightwing. _When the youngest speedster had left and taken the unconscious Captain with him, I had gone to the local hospital- as Barbra Gordon, not Batgirl- and gotten it checked out. The doctor had said it was lucky I wasn't dead. There had been a lot of blood.

I sighed. "I'm fine, it was just a scratch."

"That isn't just a scratch," he said slowly. "It looks like he sliced your neck open… why didn't I know about this?"

"You didn't need to."

I felt his grip around my waist tighten and it took every ounce of will not to get out of the bed right now and go back to sleep in my own. _Stay here for Dick, it's for Dick!_

I swallowed. "I'm fine. Can we talk about something else?"

"In the morning, when I'm more awake, we _will_ talk more about this."

I winced. "We don't need to."

He let out a low laugh, but it was filled with emptiness. "I think we do. What other injuries do you have that I don't know about?"

I moved his hands from my waist and flipped over so out faces were inches apart, our breaths mingling. "I don't need to tell you every time I get hurt!"

His expression was one of anger. "And why the hell-"

Out of the darkness, a voice echoed. "Nightwing? Is everything okay?"

We both froze. Dick cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Beast Boy. Just go back to sleep."

"Are you sure? I thought I heard someone-"

"I said I'm fine. Go to sleep!"

I heard some rustling, but there was silence. After a few moments I opened my mouth to say something, but Dick beat me to it. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

I bit my lip. "That's kind of an occupational hazard."

He chuckled and it was a real laugh, not a fake one. It loosened the tension between us and I flipped over again, his hands wrapping around me.

I had almost fallen asleep when I heard his voice again. "Night, Babs."

I hid a smile at the tone of his voice. _He sounds like a kid again… _"Goodnight, Dick."

* * *

"Should we wake them?"

"Na, they're so cute together!"

"Nightwing is going to kill us…"

"Just live a little!"

I moved slightly, causing the murmurs to stop. It was then I realized that I wasn't in my own bed and I was in Dick's arms.

My eyes snapped open.

The entire team- minus Blue Beetle, he was at his house- was staring at us, Impulse holding a camera.

My eyes narrowed. "Not one word," I hissed, then closed my eyes again just in time to hear barely concealed laughter.

_Might as well sleep while I can…_

**This is a one-shot.**


End file.
